Japan, US eye penalty system in TPP

Tokyo

JAPAN and the United States have entered the final stages of opinion coordination regarding the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement, aiming to introduce a system of invoking penalties if either country fails to implement accords in automobile trade that are to be decided in bilateral talks, according to sources.

If a violation occurs, Japan and the US will be able to raise tariffs on certain categories to levels used before TPP talks. The US is aiming to do so for cars and Japan is eyeing farm products. The penalty system is under discussion as part of efforts to raise the effectiveness of the TPP agreement.